The Chronicles of Dan Forest, an Idiot

On May 1, the LG found a six-week-old story about an Italian study that found that 99 percent of early COVID-19 deaths in Italy were people who had preexisting conditions. This, Forest tweeted, meant there was no “moral or ethical justification” for Governor Cooper’s stay-at-home policy—perhaps because Forest has gone all-in on social Darwinism, or perhaps because his polling sucks and he wants someone to pay attention to him.

A few days later, however, a DHHS report pointed out that 51 percent of residents—more than 5 million people—have underlying conditions that make them more susceptible to COVID-19.

Still, on May 8, Forest was back at it, tweeting a graphic showing that the elderly accounted for 86 percent of the state’s deaths: “Gov. Cooper has repeatedly used fear to justify his decision to keep our state shutdown. … Why are we not enacting policies and protecting those who are actually most vulnerable, while allowing the rest of the population to act responsibly and get back to work if they want to?”

Who wants to explain to the walking dunce cap how viruses work?

Contact editor in chief Jeffrey C. Billman at jbillman@indyweek.com.

DEAR READERS, WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW MORE THAN EVER. Support independent local journalism by joining the INDY Press Club today. Your contributions will keep our fearless watchdog reporting and essential arts and culture coverage viable in the Triangle, coronavirus be damned.